Phoenix
by Amilla Evelan
Summary: The girl raised by Itex to be the perfect weapon against the flock has just been set free. Will she go against Itex and join Max, or will she fulfill the "destiny" she was created for? ON HIATUS
1. Chapter 1

**AN: Just an idea that I originally had quite a while ago. It used to be a crossover between MR and a bunch of other books, but I tweaked a few things and this is the result. I actually am having a lot of fun with this story. This one's probably going to be my priority for a while.**

**Summary: The girl raised by Itex to be the perfect weapon against the flock has just been set free. Will she go against Itex and join Max, or will she fulfill the "destiny" she was created for?**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Maximum Ride. I only own Phoenix, and I'm perfectly happy owning only her.**

**NOTE: This part takes place at the end of STWAOES, when all the kids who got Fang's message start attacking the Itex buildings. This particular one catches on fire and is burning to the ground. **

Phoenix

The girl was their greatest creation, the one that was best planned, the one that was most likely to succeed. She had all the powers that the Flock had, every single one, and was stronger, faster, and smarter. She could fly as fast, if not faster, than any of them, even the one called Maximum. Yet if Dr. Reginald didn't reach her soon, she would be dead, and so would all their plans.

He coughed as the smoke charred his throat, stumbling through the halls. All around, he could hear the panicked shouting as people tried to put out the fire and escape. Far away, he could just barely hear the chanting of the kids and teenagers who had somehow discovered their location, and managed to set it on fire.

Reginald fumbled with his keys, his eyes smarting with the smoke in the air. He managed to throw the door open and sprinted down the hall. Quickly typing a code into the keypad, he waited for the door to hiss open, breathing heavily.

When the door finally opened, he burst in and shouted, "Come with me, now!"

The girl looked up, startled. She pointed out the window, asking, "Why are they burning the building?" with the air of asking about the weather.

"I don't know, but we have to get you out!" the doctor cried, desperate. He held the door open and waved her through, frantic.

The girl had never been allowed to roam the halls freely in her life, ever. She had never left a room without two Erasers next to her, one gripping each arm. She knew she could take them, but she didn't, because she valued her freedom that would no doubt be taken away should she step out of line.

She had always had a thin collar around her neck, not a heavy or uncomfortable one, but it served its purpose. Should she decide to rebel, it would either send her an electrical shock or a sedative, depending on the situation.

But the doctor was taking it off now. He was tapping in a code, and then the collar hissed open wide enough to take it off. She rubbed her neck thoughtfully, not used to it being collar-less.

Now was apparently not the time. The doctor had grabbed her arm and was dragging her through smoke-filled halls, with flames just visible around some corners. She followed willingly enough. She was not an idiot, and she certainly didn't want to be burned alive.

She could smell the fresh air before they even reached the open door. She ran faster than the doctor, wanting just a peek outside before she was shuffled off to some safe room. But the doctor didn't try to pull her away from the door. In fact that seemed to be the way they were going.

Then, they were outside! She had really, truly been outside twice in her life, and both times she was under heavy guard and brought onto a plane to take her to another branch of Itex. But now…now she could escape. All there was to stop her was this weak human, and he didn't stand a chance.

She turned around to face him, balling her fists to knock him out with a well-placed punch. But he wasn't trying to stop her. He was shouting at her to fly away, to get out of here and never come back.

"Go! Go, get out of here! Itex is finished, you don't have to stay anymore!" He cried, waving his arms and pointing at the sky. "Fly away, and don't ever come back! Fly away!"

She could read his thoughts and tell he was sincere. He had heard in one of the many labs and technology centers that this was happening to Itex buildings all over the world, even the main headquarters was under attack. He was right, Itex was finished. She could fly away right now, and nobody would even try to stop her. She was free, for the first time in her life.

Ignoring the burning building behind her, she spread her wings and leaped high into the air, pushing down in a mighty downstroke. Up, down, up, down, and the building was already just a glowing speck on the ground. She turned away and faced the limitless sky, and pushed on to a new life.

As she left her old life of tests and labs behind, she had a sudden thought. _I need a name._

She remembered something that the whitecoat who had set her free had thought as she flew away. He had thought that she looked like a phoenix, a mythical bird that when it died, it burst into flames and was reborn from the ashes.

In a way, she had been reborn from the ashes. As her old home, Itex, burned to the ground, she was given a new freedom, and a chance for a new life, from its ashes.

Phoenix, she thought, trying out her new name. She smiled as the wind whipped her hair across her face.

She loved it.

**AN: Yes, Phoenix can read minds. If you pay attention, you will notice that it says that she has all the Flock's powers combined into her, along with enhanced speed and strength. Will she be good or bad? Well, you'll have to find that out for yourself, won't you?**

**Sorry it was kind of short, but this is pretty much the intro, so the next one is definitely going to be longer.  
**

**Anyway, Max and the Flock WILL be in this story. Maybe in the next chapter, most likely in the chapter after that.**

**Can anyone tell be approximately how much time passes in "The Final Warning"? I would really appreciate it, and you would get some virtual brownies from me :D**

**I really like reviews, so leave one for me, won't you?**


	2. Chapter 2

**AN: Yay, second chapter! This one takes place at the beginning of The Final Warning, when the Flock is about to go to DC and to a meeting with government people. If that helps at all. **

**Disclaimer: YESSS! I SUCCEDED IN CLAIMING MAXIMUM RIDE! ... Actually, I lied, it still belongs to James Patterson. I do own Phoenix, though!**

To be honest, she never really liked Itex. They had kept her cooped up, even if they had trained her and treated her somewhat decently. Much better than how the Erasers were treated. They didn't "retire" _her_ when they got the Flyboys to work. However, back then she was restricted, and kept locked up and under the tightest security imaginable. Now, she was free.

Phoenix sat at the mouth of a small cave, absently twirling a strand of her bright red hair as she tried to figure out what to do with her life.

Itex had educated her, sure. Though she was roughly five years old, she was already as smart as the average college student, and was quite good at geology, mathematics, history, biology, and was also fluent in three languages.

And although she was five years old, she had the body of a fifteen-year-old. Phoenix had no idea how they did it, but somehow the whitecoats had managed to make her grow to have a much…well _older_ body than average girls her age had.

However, she was not a normal girl. One look at her bright red wings could prove that.

Phoenix sighed and leaned back, resting her head on the cool floor of the cave. What should she do? Itex was finished, so nobody was going to be following her and trying to bring her back, like they did with the Flock. Heck, hardly anyone even in Itex knew that she existed. She was a top secret weapon, though for what she wasn't sure.

All she knew was that it had something to do with the Flock. Maybe she was made to bring them back to the School, or to beat them in a fight. Maybe Itex even wanted her to _exterminate _them.

It didn't matter. Itex was gone, and their plans with it, she told herself firmly.

She stood up and shouldered a backpack she had 'borrowed' from a convenience store with some slight use of her telepathic powers. Phoenix had made her decision. She was going to join the Flock.

Easier said than done.

Now that the Flock was famous and all that, they were being protected much better than they were while on the run. Even though they no longer really needed to hide from Erasers anymore (since they were all dead) they still needed to be protected from nut-jobs that wanted to capture them for their own purposes.

Phoenix was very grateful that a total of roughly ten people knew about her existence. That way, nobody would try to do anything funky to her because they didn't even know she existed. However, she was willing to give that up to be able to join the Flock.

Why join the Flock? Because Phoenix did not want to spend the rest of her life hiding her wings and living out of a Dumpster. Of course, she could introduce herself to the world as another bird kid, separate from the Flock, but she figured she would be better off learning from the experts, AKA, the Flock.

However, nothing was more irritating than trying to catch up to them.

What with telepathic powers and Internet, she managed to track them to Washington DC, but they were currently in some "safe house", meaning that she couldn't go knocking on their door at any random time. Also meaning that they could take off at any random moment, leaving Phoenix in the dust.

However, she did get some information about them by picking through their thoughts. Their names were Max, the leader, Fang, the dark and silent one, Iggy and The Gasman, more commonly known as Gazzy, who were the pyromaniacs, Nudge, the chatterbox girly-girl type (except for the wings and the ability to kick butt), and finally, Angel.

Angel was the one who could read minds. The reason Phoenix could read minds as well, seeing that the whitecoats had implanted every one of their powers into her. In fact, she was also the only one who knew about her.

Phoenix had been very surprised when she heard Angel's mental voice in her head only a few hours after camping out by the house.

_Who are you?_ A small voice in Phoenix's mind had asked, causing her to jump and look around in alarm. When she finally figured out that nobody was nearby and that the voice was in her head, she answered, _My name is Phoenix. Who are you?_

_ Angel, _the voice had answered. _Why are you hiding by our house? You don't seem like someone bad._

_ I'm not going to hurt you. _Phoenix answered firmly. _I want to join the Flock. I have wings, like the rest of you. I escaped Itex a few weeks ago, and I have nowhere else to go._

She told Angel her whole story, along with everything she knew about why she was created. Of course, it's kind of hard to keep secrets from someone who could read minds, even if she was a mind-reader herself. In turn, Angel informed her of what was going on, and what the best way to approach Max was if she wanted to join.

_Max is really suspicious, so try to tone down that the whitecoats were friendly-ish to you, _Angel advised. _It might not mean anything, but you never know how Max will react to stuff like that._

Since they were going to a government meeting later, Phoenix camped out in a nearby tree for a few hours. She'd already stocked up on food for a few days, so she snacked as she idly watched birds flit around and insects drift by lazily.

The sound of a car door slamming snapped her out of a lazy daydream in which she was the chocolate queen ruling over the land of Sugary Sweets. She made sure she was completely concealed before listening in to the laughing voices and the slamming of the front door.

_How did it go? _Phoenix asked Angel telepathically. She sensed Angel setting down their talking dog, Total, and answering the question of what kind of pizza she wanted before answering.

_Max completely blew off the government people. It was pretty darn funny! _She laughed as she sent her images and memories of the incident. Phoenix laughed along with her, but she felt a pang of sadness that Angel was the only friend that she could laugh with.

Angel, sensing this, told her, _Don't worry, I'm sure that you'll be able to join us. Max isn't the sort to turn someone away when they need us._

_ I thought you said she was the suspicious type_

_ She is, but that won't stop her from doing what she thinks is right. That's one thing I admire about her. She can tell when someone is good, most of the time._

Comforted somewhat, Phoenix thanked her and wandered around a bit, always staying within range of the Flock's thoughts.

Within a few minutes, she heard the doorbell ring, signaling the pizza's arrival. She sensed the excitement, then, to her alarm, heard Gazzy's thoughts realizing that it was a bomb.

That was as far as she got before a burst of color and pain exploded behind her eyelids. Phoenix's brain sizzled and burned, pain drowning out everything happening outside. She screamed, unaware of the explosion that rattled the nearby house. She curled up in a fetal position on the ground as her head felt like it was exploding, over and over and over.

After what felt like an eternity, the explosions faded, and she found herself able to think and move again. She was surprised to realize she was standing up, as opposed to curled up on the ground. She reached out with her mind, only to realize that the house was empty. The Flock had left.

She then realized that that wasn't the only thing different.

The trees, shrubs, and everything around her showed some sign of damage, some much more severe than others. Several trees were knocked down, shrubs and bushed were ripped up by the roots, and several huge branches were lying snapped clean on the ground, looking like they were thrown with extreme force.

Then, she realized that her hands were raw and bloody, there were twigs and shards of wood stuck on her clothes and in her hair, and that a lot of the damage looked very similar to damage done by her during some of Itex's training tests.

She hadn't been curled up in a ball on the ground during her brain attack. She had been destroying everything around her.

**AN: Well. Here's the second chapter for you. Now, I'm going to ask you all when you think will be the best time for Phoenix to introduce herself to the Flock. I'm thinking **_**before**_** they go to Antarctica, how 'bout you?**

**I NEED REVEIWS. Reviews mean the next chapter comes faster. Reviews and feedback mean that the story turns out better. Reviews in general make me very happy indeed. So if you have something to say, for the sake of pineapples say it! …Please?**

**Anyway, thanks to i heart manga 89 for reviewing! You were the only reviewer! Therefore, you get virtual cookies!  
**

**Read, review, and don't let the aliens abduct you.**


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